Basketball from a fans perspective

　

Love me some Phil Jackson
"As I've said before, the media can do and say whatever they please. It's easy for me to ignore them because I'm doing the job that I've been hired to do." Hear that Stephen A. Smith and others? The Zen Master will fix the Knicks given adequate time, one year on the job seems a little soon to me.

Please---no way
Over the years the Lakers have explored signing a number of free agents. Most of the prospects I’ve been excited about the possibility of them becoming a Laker. On the other hand there have been a few I’ve said; “Please no way.” This is not official the report comes from a Laker fan website. The report indicated the Lakers would probably not sign J.R. Smith. That is good news to my ears, for every single positive attribute Smith brings to the table there might be three or four negatives. To my knowledge the player has never experienced any off-court issues all his issues are basketball related. If for some reason the Lakers manage to sign Smith I’ll just have to deal with management’s decision.

I lost track of him
Larry Laker had an opportunity to interview Michael Dixon Jr. Dixon Jr. former Mizzou and Memphis Tiger was training at a sports and physical therapy facility in Lees Summit (MO). I’d lost track of him and wasn’t sure if he still had eligibility at Memphis. I asked the question and he responded; “No I played last year in the Czech Republic,” I responded “Okay good luck next season.” I checked the web when I returned home and discovered Dixon Jr. was in Nymburk last year about 45 km east of Prague. CEZ Basketball Numburk is the team he played for last year and will return in the fall.

Could he play guard?
Video has surfaced on the net regarding Bol Bol, the 15-year old is the son of former NBA player Manute Bol. The youngster plays at Bishop Meige High School in suburban Kansas City. At 6-10 the youngster handles the ball like a guard but I thought “He’s awful skinny,” his dad stood 7-7 but was a slender 200 pounds. Manute had limited skills I still maintain the Sudan native played the game because he was tall. On the other hand Bol Bol is a different matter, unlike his dad Bol grew up playing the game. This got me to thinking and I remember back to 1996, I believed (incorrectly) Marcus Camby was too thin to play in the NBA; he stood 6-11 and weighed 240 pounds. In my mind I fast forwarded to Kevin Durant 6-9 and 240. Bol Bol might not have an NBA career in his future however he might become a 6-10 shooting guard. Can you imagine an opposition player trying to guard him?

Recruiting
If you plan on any degree of coaching at the collegiate level you must be able to recruit talent. Recruiting is the key to any successful program whether its football, basketball or some other sport. The upcoming college basketball season will have two coaches with no college experience. Alabama’s Avery Johnson and Chris Mullin at St. John’s, Johnson however has an advantage over Mullin because he’s coached at the Mavs and Nets.

Questions on Mullin might still be unanswered however he and staff appear to have hit the ground running. He’s got an outstanding freshman class plus valuable transfers to add to the remaining roster. Mullin’s latest reach is all the way across the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Italy. Federico Mussini a talented point guard from Reggio Emilia, Italy has verbally committed to attend St. John’s. Mullin managed to beat out Virginia, Gonzaga and several other programs for Mussini’s service.